The purpose of this institutional protocol is to offer SBRT to selected patients in a controlled environment to refine treatment techniques (including dose/fractionation schedules) and standardize follow-up. SBRT has been in clinical use for over a decade in some institutions and the available data suggest that it can be used safely and with good results. This study will see how effective Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy is for treating tumours in the lung and how often people have side effects. Radiation therapy is usually given once a day, often for a few weeks. In this study, study participants will receive high doses of radiation treatment to tumours in the lung for 3 to 10 treatment sessions over a total of about 1 to 2 weeks.

Several reports indicate that this therapy might shrink tumours and control the cancer for extended periods of time. Although specialists started to treat patients with SBRT over 10 years ago, it is still used in relatively few cancer centres.

Participants will receive high doses of radiation treatment to tumours in the lung for 3 to 10 treatment sessions over a total of about 1 to 2 weeks.

Detailed Description:

SBRT is an adaptation of the principles and experience gained from stereotactic brain RT. SBRT was developed in the early 90s at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and is used as an accepted alternative of treatment for patients with early stage lung cancer in many centers in Japan and a number of centers in Germany,USA and elsewhere. It is also now being used for patients who have lung metastases and extra-thoracic disease (primary or metastatic). Many reports indicate excellent local control (80-90% or higher) and minimal toxicity in well selected patients treated with thoracic SBRT.

SBRT has traditionally had the following features:

High doses of radiation, usually in a few large fractions (it is "hypofractionated" compared with standard radiotherapy schedules)

Multiple radiation beams coming from different directions in the same plane ('co-planar' beams) as well as from different directions and different planes relative to the patient's body ('non-coplanar' beams)

Stereotactic beam placement, in that it is guided by a set of coordinates These coordinates are defined in relationship to the precise location of the tumor, determined from medical imaging (e.g. CT, MRI), rather than to a set of external marks (tattoos) or anatomical landmarks (such as bony structures)

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older

Genders Eligible for Study:

Both

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Histological confirmation of malignancy, unless the risks of biopsy are unacceptable and the lesion has grown on serial CT scan and/or is PET positive.

patients with a non-lung primary that is controlled and which has metastasized to the lungs alone, in whom potentially curative surgery would otherwise be an option (e.g. colorectal, breast, sarcoma…etc)

the subset of patients with limited (low) volume metastatic NSCLC or other primary site tumors whom it is felt may derive benefit from highdose SBRT treatment to the primary or metastatic lung tumor. And in whom other sites of metastatic disease are being treated with the desire to achieve long term control. Lesions must meet size criteria in 4.1.2.1

Patients who have potentially resectable disease should be considered medically inoperable, or else in the judgement of the thoracic surgeon and lung team, surgery is not considered the preferred management option

Patient enrollment on other studies may be permissible. This will depend on patient and study characteristics.

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01803542